AUTHOR ARCHIVES

Eric Katz

Eric Katz writes about federal agency operations and management. His deep coverage of Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Postal Service has earned him frequent guest spots on national radio and television news programs. Eric joined Government Executive in the summer of 2012 and previously worked for The Financial Times. He is a graduate of The George Washington University.

October 6, 2017
The Trump administration on Thursday promised a large increase in the number of federal personnel on the ground in Puerto Rico, noting it still has a significant amount of short and long-term work ahead of it to help the hurricane-ravaged island. Federal agencies have already deployed 14,000 personnel to the...

October 5, 2017
House Democrats are calling for hearings on what they call the Trump administration’s “degradation of the federal workforce,” complaining federal agencies are conducting their White House-mandated reorganizations with little transparency or oversight. Eighteen Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee requested an increased spotlight on the administration’s efforts...

October 4, 2017
A career civil servant who claimed retribution by the Trump administration after speaking out as a whistleblower resigned from his post on Wednesday, citing poor leadership and wasteful spending as the factors that drove him out. Joel Clement was one of dozens of Senior Executive Service employees reassigned to different...

October 4, 2017
Federal agencies would receive an array of authorities to speed hiring under a series of bills approved by a Senate committee on Wednesday. Two measures would boost hiring flexibility for agencies governmentwide looking to fill critical gaps, as well as for applicants coming from post-secondary schools. Another measure would aim...

October 3, 2017
Another member of President Trump’s team is in trouble for violating the Hatch Act, with a watchdog now citing his ambassador to the United Nations for improperly engaging in political activity. Nikki Haley transgressed when retweeting a message from Trump that endorsed then-congressional candidate Ralph Norman, a Republican from Haley’s...

October 3, 2017
In 2010, Boone Cutler was taking 30 milligrams of morphine, 70 milligrams of oxycodone and other opioids each day. He regularly went three to four days without sleep. The Army veteran had survived a blast injury while deployed in Sadr City, Iraq, and has since endured seven knee surgeries, five...

October 2, 2017
The Trump administration boasted on Monday of its accomplishments in eliminating regulations enforced by federal agencies, saying it is exceeding its goal to slash two rules for every new one it creates. President Trump did not make a public speech as scheduled, due to the mass shooting in Las Vegas...

September 29, 2017
The U.S. Postal Service has yet again failed to make mandatory payments into accounts for its retirees’ pensions and health care, sparking a renewed call for legislative reform aimed at relieving the financial stress on the cash-strapped agency. USPS’ primary obligation is to provide “prompt, reliable and efficient universal postal...

September 28, 2017
Federal agencies generally followed the rules and refrained from exerting political pressure when converting appointees into career positions, according to a new report, which audited the very few cases of “burrowing in” since 2010. The Office of Personnel Management approved 78 conversions of political appointees between Jan. 1, 2010, and...

September 27, 2017
The Veterans Affairs Department saw a slight net increase last year in the number of doctors and other in-demand workers it employs, according to a new report, but still remains critically short of the onboarding it requires. The Veterans Health Administration netted 774 medical officers last fiscal year, VA’s inspector...